May 31, 2009

Changes loom at Wasco County Fair
An online fair book is just one

By Sam Craig
of The Chronicle

     There are just a few short months before fair time, but before you get ready to enter a recipe, photo or quilting project, there will be some pretty big changes.
For the first time in Wasco County Fair’s history, there will be no Fair Entry Book. To find out how to participate, the information for each category will be on the fair board’s website.
     “We’re doing some changes this year that some folks may or may not like,” said Denise Minson, chairman of the Wasco County Fair Board. “The first thing we’re doing is no longer publishing a fair book. Our fair book was part open class, part 4-H. So 4-H went and put theirs online, so we’re going to put ours online. It’s going to be called the ‘Wasco County Fair and Rodeo Event Guide.’”
     To find out what’s what at the county fair, the Event Guide will be an online source to seeing everything at the fair.
     “It’s not just the entry material, but everything that’s related to this year’s fair that will be online,” Minson said. “Entry forms, class numbers, the calendar of events to let you know what’s happening with the times and all that. But when they go to enter, it’s the same as it has always been before.”
     To enter, contestants will have to print out a copy of the entry form and mail it to the fair offices, though if an entrant doesn’t have a computer or a printer, the fair board will be more than happy to mail you an entry form.
     Minson said she knows there will be some folks who are unhappy with the decision to make the fair book an Internet-only venture, but she says there is an upside to putting it online. It’s healthier for the environment, which is also a direction they’re trying to push the fair in this year.
     “We’re kind of trying to go green with the Event Guide,” she said. “By having it online, that’s kind of our way of going green. Last year we had recyclable garbage cans —clear plastic bags they have on a metal stand — we had them out there for people to put in their pop cans and plastic bottles so they can be recycled. We’re planning on having that back again.”
     But there’s no need to worry about the fair going completely earth friendly. The deliciously greasy funnel cakes won’t be replaced by granola-crusted tofu anytime soon. The fair will still have the regular events like the rodeo and the demolition derby, as well as the rides you wish you hadn’t eaten a corndog before going on.
     In addition to the classics, the fair is bringing some new stuff to the Tygh Valley fairgrounds.
     “Last year it was like 117 in the commercial building, so we’re putting coolers in the commercial building,” Minson said. “We’ve also got a grant for OMSI to come to the fair, so OMSI will have an exhibit there. We’re going to have a couple cooking contests that are sponsored by Oregon State Fair. One’s going to be a chicken cook-off and one’s going to be a beef cook-off. Calen Morelli will also be out there doing magic tricks.”
     The fair will be open from Aug. 13 through 16 this summer. The list of categories hasn’t been completed yet, but for an entry form Minson said to call the Wasco County Fair Board Secretary, Betty Odom, at (541) 395-2668.
     “We’d really like the community to enter more things, cooking, crafts, photos, art, sewing, quilting,” Minson said. “We’d really like to thank all of our volunteers and invite everyone out to the fair.”